Apparently, scientists are hoping to train a "breed" of robots capable of taking on the Battlebots. All of this got started when the scientists noted that the Battlebots TV show consistently beat out Science Digest in the ratings war. Never tick off a room full of PhD's...
You know, I'm all for intellectual property rights, but the world would be a nicer place to live if everyone would just give a little bit. All these big companies are fighting for every square inch of what they think they're entitled to when they'd actually be doing themselves a favor if they lightened up on the iron grip. Fan sites build up interest and bring revenue to music groups and TV shows and such. Now I absolutlely believe that companies have a right to be selfish and keep a tight grip on their intellectual property, but they'd do themselves a favor if they stopped acting like toddlers with a toy they don't want anyone else to play with...
"If you're really concerned about sharing your new DSL line's bandwidth with a roof-top antenna, or you worry about security, but you don't want to (or cannot) cut the power cord, a coffee can over the antenna, or some tinfoil, would probably block enough of the signal to prevent any useful connections to YOUR rooftop, and divert those connections to a neighbor."
...and at the very least you'd give the neighbors something to talk about (as if your "rm -rf/bin/laden" T-Shirt wasn't enough).
In all honesty, it'd probably be easier to crack a site by more traditional methods than trying to intercept a signal. It'd certainly require less expensive equipment (or so one would think).
I think the official Slashdot position is that the owners of these companies should provide free service to everyone, then go home and scourge themselves for being capitalists.
I keep forgetting that carriage returns don't work here... I've reposted with all the geeky html tags necessary to format my message properly. So much for my karma, I'll probably be banned from this site for this little fiasco. How will I ever live down this shame?!
The Anatomy of the Internet
on
Heart of the Net
·
· Score: 3, Funny
(pardon the double post, I keep forgetting that I need to write my posts in html because those slashdot folks can't write an editor that recognizes carriage returns;-)
Heart = www.yahoo.com
Lungs = www.google.com
Kidneys = www.blogger.com
Pancreas = www.slashdot.org
Large Intestines = www.aol.com
Small Intestines = www.msn.com
Brain = still under development
Heart = www.yahoo.com
Lungs = www.google.com
Kidneys = www.blogger.com
Pancreas = www.slashdot.org
Large Intestines = www.aol.com
Small Intestines = www.msn.com
Brain = still under development
Okay, free idea to anyone not as lazy as I am: how about a "Page You Made" feature like on Amazon.com. Basically, Google would keep track of all your searches and all the links you click for that session, and when you ask it to it'll generate a page of links, complete with thumbnail screenshots, of the sort of links it thinks you might want to see.
Another idea might be a sort feature sorting search results by "most linked to".
I dunno, I admit it, the guy who came up with the "average color of the web" feature in an earlier post has me beat hands down. I can't think of anything even half as cool as that...
Code-named ``MetaPad'', the module is 5 inches (12.7 cm) long, 3 inches (7.6 cm) wide and about three-quarters of an inch (1.9 cm) thick. The module fits into a larger accessory piece that includes a small, flat screen on front and is about 6 inches (15.2 cm) long, 4 inches (10 cm) wide and 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick.
Okay, well, the screen on my Handspring Visor is about 4" x 2.5" so in that light this device's seems to compare to a largish PDA at 6" x 4". I've seen Pocket PC's with color screens and more power than my little Visor, but they weren't running full-blown Windows 2000 and I doubt they had quite the specs this thing has.
I don't think this really appeals to me, mostly because if I want to do any real work that would require desktop processing power, I want to do it on a screen large enough not to give me eyestrain. 6" x 4" doesn't cut it for me. I think I'll just stick with my handy-dandy notebook computer.
When I hear "metapad" I think of a big 8.5" x 11" x 1" tablet with a big LCD screen taking up one entire side of it. You'd use a stylus like on a PDA, but it would have the processing power of a laptop, and a color display. Now that would be cool if it ever happens...
Yikes! I can't win! Okay, what I meant to say was, "let's call them Generic Company That Doesn't Really Exist Because The Real Company is Very Aggresive About Filing Lawsuits Against People Who Post Things About Them On the Internet, Inc."
Ellison's copyright infringement action is continuing against the remaining defendant America Online, Inc.
Donations to the continuing lawsuit (which has received donations from SFWA, many authors and fans) can now be made to:
Trust of Kulik, Gottesman & Mouton
KICK Internet Piracy
Post Office Box 55935
Sherman Oaks, CA 91413
Does anyone else think it's passing strange that a lawsuit by a private individual should ask for charitable donations? I gotta believe sending the same amount of money to a real charity like Compassion International (http://www.compassion.com/) instead of Harlan Ellison's lawyers might do the world more good...
I used to work for a company (let's call them ACME, because I don't want to be sued) whose hq was on the other side of the contry, and with programming groups all around the world. We used VSS, with the server at HQ, and it literally took 10 seconds or more to change directories, and much longer to retrieve or update! This hobbled our office's ability to work (HQ didn't care, they just made us work weekends to make up for the loss of efficiency).
A more distributed source control system could obviously circumvent problems like these, but with this caveat: the code that different groups work on would need to be sufficiently black boxed that most changes wouldn't require changes in other projects. It's just good programming style, but I know that this wasn't the case at ACME, and given my experiences with Corporate America I doubt it's true in most places. Maybe I'm just being pessimistic...
Anyway, it sounds like a good idea if it's used right.
Yeah, that's a good point. The best time to challenge Microsoft was when many people still did not own computers. Unfortunately, so many people are used to using Windows (and let's be honest, they basically like it for the most part) that there's a lot of inertia against getting new people to use Linux at home. Unfortunately, the Linux GUI has only come into its own with good, stable versions of KDE and Gnome in the past 2-3 years, long after the Windows GUI became easy to use. Windows has its share of problems, but it was there first. History tells us that technical superiority, like Beta vs. VCR, isn't always acknowledged in the market.
Slashdot Mirror
Maybe we could sell the Iraqis some X10 Cameras while we're at it and use the money to fund a financial stimulis package... Eric
I think I'm gonna hold out for jump gates. I've seen them work on Babylon 5 so I assume they are technologically feasible...
They don't want anyone to see the source code because no one must ever know that Windows XP is written in Visual Basic...
Well, 2% is much better than most Computer Science departments... and Slashdot too, for that matter.
http://www.rit.edu/~jlc6534/rezyndance_hi.wmz
Click the link and watch this video. Someone has too much time on his hands, but this video is GREAT! This is what MMORPG's should _really_ be like!
Speak it, brother! How's that old geek saying go... "if you aren't voiding the warrenty, then you aren't even trying."
Apparently, scientists are hoping to train a "breed" of robots capable of taking on the Battlebots. All of this got started when the scientists noted that the Battlebots TV show consistently beat out Science Digest in the ratings war. Never tick off a room full of PhD's...
Yeah, you know, if Keven Mitnick ever gets elected president you know something fishy is going on...
You know, I'm all for intellectual property rights, but the world would be a nicer place to live if everyone would just give a little bit. All these big companies are fighting for every square inch of what they think they're entitled to when they'd actually be doing themselves a favor if they lightened up on the iron grip. Fan sites build up interest and bring revenue to music groups and TV shows and such. Now I absolutlely believe that companies have a right to be selfish and keep a tight grip on their intellectual property, but they'd do themselves a favor if they stopped acting like toddlers with a toy they don't want anyone else to play with...
In all honesty, it'd probably be easier to crack a site by more traditional methods than trying to intercept a signal. It'd certainly require less expensive equipment (or so one would think).
I think the official Slashdot position is that the owners of these companies should provide free service to everyone, then go home and scourge themselves for being capitalists.
Wow, brainwashing thousands of children, sounds like Pokemon ;-)
You guys take things so seriously, learn to laugh a little. Enjoy life. :-)
Carpe Diem? Doesn't that mean "seize the fish"?
I keep forgetting that carriage returns don't work here... I've reposted with all the geeky html tags necessary to format my message properly. So much for my karma, I'll probably be banned from this site for this little fiasco. How will I ever live down this shame?!
Heart = www.yahoo.com
Lungs = www.google.com
Kidneys = www.blogger.com
Pancreas = www.slashdot.org
Large Intestines = www.aol.com
Small Intestines = www.msn.com
Brain = still under development
hope this helps...
hope this helps...
Another idea might be a sort feature sorting search results by "most linked to".
I dunno, I admit it, the guy who came up with the "average color of the web" feature in an earlier post has me beat hands down. I can't think of anything even half as cool as that...
I hear the government used an online survey on their web page in order to gather these statistics...
Code-named ``MetaPad'', the module is 5 inches (12.7 cm) long, 3 inches (7.6 cm) wide and about three-quarters of an inch (1.9 cm) thick. The module fits into a larger accessory piece that includes a small, flat screen on front and is about 6 inches (15.2 cm) long, 4 inches (10 cm) wide and 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick.
Okay, well, the screen on my Handspring Visor is about 4" x 2.5" so in that light this device's seems to compare to a largish PDA at 6" x 4". I've seen Pocket PC's with color screens and more power than my little Visor, but they weren't running full-blown Windows 2000 and I doubt they had quite the specs this thing has.
I don't think this really appeals to me, mostly because if I want to do any real work that would require desktop processing power, I want to do it on a screen large enough not to give me eyestrain. 6" x 4" doesn't cut it for me. I think I'll just stick with my handy-dandy notebook computer.
When I hear "metapad" I think of a big 8.5" x 11" x 1" tablet with a big LCD screen taking up one entire side of it. You'd use a stylus like on a PDA, but it would have the processing power of a laptop, and a color display. Now that would be cool if it ever happens...
Yikes! I can't win! Okay, what I meant to say was, "let's call them Generic Company That Doesn't Really Exist Because The Real Company is Very Aggresive About Filing Lawsuits Against People Who Post Things About Them On the Internet, Inc."
Ellison's copyright infringement action is continuing against the remaining defendant America Online, Inc.
Donations to the continuing lawsuit (which has received donations from SFWA, many authors and fans) can now be made to: Trust of Kulik, Gottesman & Mouton KICK Internet Piracy Post Office Box 55935 Sherman Oaks, CA 91413
Does anyone else think it's passing strange that a lawsuit by a private individual should ask for charitable donations? I gotta believe sending the same amount of money to a real charity like Compassion International (http://www.compassion.com/) instead of Harlan Ellison's lawyers might do the world more good...
A more distributed source control system could obviously circumvent problems like these, but with this caveat: the code that different groups work on would need to be sufficiently black boxed that most changes wouldn't require changes in other projects. It's just good programming style, but I know that this wasn't the case at ACME, and given my experiences with Corporate America I doubt it's true in most places. Maybe I'm just being pessimistic...
Anyway, it sounds like a good idea if it's used right.
Yeah, that's a good point. The best time to challenge Microsoft was when many people still did not own computers. Unfortunately, so many people are used to using Windows (and let's be honest, they basically like it for the most part) that there's a lot of inertia against getting new people to use Linux at home. Unfortunately, the Linux GUI has only come into its own with good, stable versions of KDE and Gnome in the past 2-3 years, long after the Windows GUI became easy to use. Windows has its share of problems, but it was there first. History tells us that technical superiority, like Beta vs. VCR, isn't always acknowledged in the market.